Pizza

I had been wanting to make home made pizza for ages but never had the right ingredients or enough time. Then I was given the leftovers from the great bagel making, which included a big ball of mozzarella and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!

I used a Leiths recipe to make the base, and then made my own tomato sauce, and topped the pizza with mushrooms, ham, peppers, homemade sun dried tomatoes and onions. It was delicious, but the base was a little too bready for me. I'm not sure how to combat this using domestic recipes, because all my cookery books go for a bread like base, will have to do some searching around.

Pizza (from Leiths Cookery Bible)
(makes 2 10 in Pizzas)

10g fresh yeast
1 tsp sugar
110ml warm water
200g strong flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 quantity of pizza sauce
225g mozzarella, shredded
3 tbsp Parmesan, grated
a selection of toppings

Cream the yeast with the sugar and 2 tbsp of the lukewarm water.

Sift the flour with the salt and make a well in the centre. Pour in the yeast mixture, the remaining water and oil. Mix together to make a soft but not wet dough. Add more water or flour if necessary.

Turn out onto a floured surface and need well for about 5 mins until the dough is smooth. Place in a clean bowl and cover with greased cling film. Leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 230C. Divide the dough into 2. Roll each piece into a 10 in circle. Place on a greased and floured baking trays.

Crimp or flute the edges of the dough slightly to help keep in the filling. Spread with the pizza sauce. Sprinkle with the cheese and toppings and pour over a little oil.

Bake in the top third of the oven for 5 mins, then turn down the temperature to 200C and bake for a further 15 mins.